AUGUSTA -- Two Augusta men were arrested Thursday night on warrants charging them with arson in separate blazes.

Manley D. Davis, 55, of Augusta, is free on bail on two counts of arson and two counts of conspiracy to commit arson.

Jack D. Vogel, 53, of Augusta, was indicted in connection with a fire at his Middle Street home on Aug. 3. He remains in the Kennebec County jail with bail set at $10,000 cash or $20,000 property.

An indictment is not a determination of guilt, but it is an indication that sufficient evidence is present to proceed with formal charges and a trial in superior court.

Davis was charged in a fire that began on New Year's Day 2008 and destroyed his historic home on Murray Street in Augusta. He also is accused of a Sept. 16, 2005, arson, in Belgrade, involving his car.

Investigators from the State Fire Marshall's Office charge that Davis paid another man -- Ronald A. Hanson Jr., 34, of Augusta -- to set both fires. Davis and his family were out of state at the time of the Jan. 1, 2008, fire.

Hanson pleaded guilty in Kennebec County Superior Court to setting both blazes and was sentenced Jan. 9 to 12 years in prison with all but 59 months suspended, and four years' of probation.

Part of his sentence required that he cooperate with authorities in a case against an unnamed co-defendant. At the time, Deputy District Attorney Alan Kelley said the investigation into the house fire was continuing.

He referred to the case as "arson for hire."

Vogel is charged in the Aug. 3 fire at 48 Middle St., a multiunit apartment building where he was living. The fire charred items in the attic, but caused no structural damage.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com